Monthly Archives: "May 2018"

I am launching a new series of Blogs which are called “Meet the Designer”. These will feature a different Designer every month. This could be an Interior Designer, An Artist, A Textile Designer, Furniture Designer, any kind of designer really. If you would like to be featured in future blogs, please drop me a message.

This one I thought I would do about me. Give you a bit of an insight into my background and a story about my upbringing and how I have got to where I am now. As we know, everyone loves a good story.

ABOUT NATALIE FROM STYLED BY NATALIE

I discovered my love for interiors from buying my first house at 18 years old. It was a two bed terraced house in York. I remember standing in the living room crying because it had stars and moons wallpaper! I immediately began stripping the wallpaper before I had even moved all my belongings in. Being on a very small salary I couldn’t afford to do much to it but decided to take a risk and spend the little money I had on renovating it. This is when the realisation hit – I had an interior addiction!

When the house was completely renovated thanks to eBay steals and a lot of elbow grease, after a few viewings it sold for double the price. Since then every property I have purchased, I have renovated and sold, within weeks, for the pretty much the full asking price. I have moved house 11 times in 15 years. I love it, I find every aspect of it exciting. Apart from removal day – thats not exciting…

I launched my business after seeing the growth of these more flexible interior design services in the US in a bid to help other young homeowners get more from their homes, both when they live in them, and when they sell them. The Americans really go to town with making sure their home is reflective of their character and they spend time and money really illustrating their style within their home. There are all sorts of services, on many levels to support them in this -but in the UK interior design seems to be limited to those who have the bigger bank balances and huge houses.

I want to ensure that anyone interested in making the most of their home has access to expert advice. This does come to the fore when it’s time to sell as research shows that staged homes sell for 8% more than non-staged homes.

I want to wipe out the myth that interior styling is just for the rich and to add services that people can dip in and out of, very flexibly.

I hope to help clients hone their creative eye and learn a few tricks of the trade, which I have learnt from my own vast experience in property, as well as being trained by the Interior Design Institute to become an Interior Designer and also a Home Stylist through CHSSP (Certified Home Staging and Styling Professional Course)

I decided I needed to quit my 9-5 in a corporate role after feeling like all the life had been drained out of me and dreading the alarm going off every morning, feeling depressed and like my life was going nowhere, I knew it was time to make a change and take control. I dealt with bosses shouting at me in my face for making tiny mistakes, colleagues who tried to get me sacked for starting up a business and bullies spreading untrue rumors….enough was enough.

I wanted to spend more time with my kids and after having my first two children, I suffered post-natal depression & extreme anxiety. Having to go back to work and put my daughter in nursery was one of the most heart wrenching things I’ve ever had to do and the most nerve-racking after taking two years out. I set my business up just after having my third child and genuinely believe this has helped me not get post-natal depression this time round. It has given me a purpose, something to concentrate my time on and feel like I am making a difference to my family.

I also work alongside my future husband in his property developing business and I already experienced success having been featured in Style at Home, as a feature designer.

So thats me….

Next month I will be featuring a lovely Interior Designer who I met on Instagram, so keep your eye out for that one.